After holding a debate on the subject in February (see EUROPE 13806/10), MEPs will be called upon on Thursday 21 May to vote on a resolution on the fundamental rights situation in Slovakia and the “deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights”, according to the draft resolution dated Monday 18 May tabled by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left.
However, some groups, such as the Greens/EFA, wanted to toughen the language and include a call for the Commission to trigger what is known as the conditionality mechanism for European funds against the country, as summarised by German MEP Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA).
“The situation is very worrying; the country is becoming a new Hungary” and the Commission “cannot repeat the same mistakes and be in a ‘wait and see’ mode”, said the MEP. The Commission should “launch the conditionality mechanism”.
According to the draft text, the European Parliament will express its “deep concern at the situation in Slovakia”. It will emphasise that “verifiable adherence by the Member States to both the rule of law and the Charter must be regarded as an essential precondition to receiving any EU funds”.
In addition, all programmes and investments financed by the EU budget must “serve the public interest”. Systemic deficiencies in the rule of law, in particular in the independence of the judiciary and audit and control systems, compromise the protection of the Union’s financial interests, the text goes on to say.
According to the draft, the European Parliament will call on the Commission to assess whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach by Slovakia of the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty and to “make full use of all available instruments to address concerns about democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, starting with preventive and cooperative tools within the framework of its annual rule of law report, with a view to ensuring compliance with the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU”.
Where well-founded concerns persist, the Commission should not hesitate to use all the enforcement measures at its disposal to protect the Union’s budget and defend the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty, including infringement procedures and, in particular, accelerated infringement procedures, as well as reinforced audit measures, suspension of payments, systematic application of financial corrections and recovery procedures.
In particular, the European Parliament condemns the “series of amendments to its criminal law and criminal procedure law, including a reduction in penalties for corruption and financial crimes, a shortening of limitation periods, and the closure of specialised anti-corruption entities”.
Link to the draft resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/lym (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)